Return to Capeside
by paranoidkitten
Summary: Buffy/Dawson's Creek. Andie returns to Capeside after being dumped by Wesley.


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This is a sequel to "Through the Window" and "Andie in LA". I don't own the characters. Send feedback to [queenclaire@chickmail.com][1]__

Andie was depressed. This wasn't unusual for her. She was often depressed. It was generally boy-related, which made her think that maybe she was destined to be unlucky in love. 

This time she was depressed because, after finally, finally, finally getting over the lost love of her life, Pacey (who she had hurt badly by sleeping with someone else, so it was really all her fault, but Andie never believed in blaming herself when someone else could be held responsible), she had found a wonderful, wonderful man named Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. They had had so much in common. They'd both cried at sad movies, they both felt isolated in this world, and they were both terrible at relationships.

Maybe, Andie mused, the being-terrible-at-relationships thing wasn't so good. They'd broken up after a week. And now she was on her way back to Capeside. 

Her cellphone rang as she sat on the train, thinking about what a failure she was. 

"Hello, Andie McPhee, total loser speaking," she answered. 

"Quit it with the negativity, Andie!" Cordelia Chase told her. 

"Hey, Cordy, what's up?"

"Well, I've just been talking to Wesley. He told me about what happened. Listen, Andie, I'm sorry you two broke up, but it's not your fault. It's hard to have a relationship with him."

"Maybe it was me," Andie said. "Maybe I wasn't good enough for him."

"Andie. Come on. Self-pity will get you nowhere with me. Now, tell me," her voice lowered conspiratorially, "it was really because he's a terrible kisser, right?"

Andie was, on occasion, a good liar, but this wasn't going to be one of those times. "Yes," she had to admit. 

***

"Hi guys! I'm back!" Andie greeted Pacey and Buffy outside Capeside High. As usual they were so incredibly wrapped up in each other that they barely noticed her, but after about half an hour, Buffy realised she was there.

"Oh, hi, Andie. How did things go with Angel?"

Andie shrugged. "Things didn't work out. Then I went out with Wesley for a while, but that was a disaster."

"Oh," Buffy nodded understandingly. "Bad kisser, right?"

Andie nodded. "How do you know? Or should I ask?"

"Cordy told me."

"You know Cordelia?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

Andie smiled. "She's not that bad. We go way back."

Pacey sighed in exasperation. "Typical. Just because _I _get a childhood friend who no one ever heard of before who mysteriously is also the person on another hit, or non-hit, as the case may be, TV show, you all have to. I mean, come _on. _Dawson grew up in Capeside and Riley grew up in Iowa. What stupid bimbo made _that_ up?"

Andie sighed. "You're just jealous, Pacey."

"Come on, guys, are you coming to class?" Kendra asked, joining them on the steps.

"I don't think I can face it without Joey and Dawson here," Pacey mused. "It's just so awful that they both had to die."

Buffy slipped her hand into his, and Pacey promptly forgot about his dead best friend and one-time girlfriend.

Andie, seeing their couple-ishness, got depressed again. "That's it. I have to find a guy."

Kendra sighed. "Yeah, me too. Buffy, why don't you get Xander to come out here? He's so cute."

"As I keep on reminding you, Kendra," Buffy said, "he's got a girlfriend. Anya."

"Anya," mused Andie. "Not that different from my name. Would he really notice if we swapped places, do you think?"

Buffy considered this. "Probably not," she decided. 

"Hey, he's mine," Kendra warned. 

"You wanna fight over this?" Andie threatened.

"Hey, Andie, I should warn you, Kendra has super slayer strength –" Buffy began to warn her, and then stopped as Andie drove a stake through Kendra's heart and caused her to crumble into dust.

"Well. That was unexpected," Pacey noted. "Another handy little plot twist to increase viewer interest, no doubt."

Buffy smiled sappily. "You're so smart, Pacey."

Andie rolled her eyes. "Smart. Hah. Only because I made him work hard last year," she muttered. "Oh, but no, I never get any credit. No one loves me."

Ethan, the one-time possible love of Andie's brother Jack, walked into Capeside High.

"Ethan!" Andie exclaimed. 

"Andie, I couldn't hold this in any longer," he began. "I'm not gay. I only pretended I was to screw around with Jack's mind. I like doing things like that, because I'm an asshole."

"Watch out for him," Buffy murmured in Andie's ear. "He reminds me of this guy I knew in my freshman year….hey!" she suddenly exclaimed, looking closer at Ethan. "_Parker?_"

Ethan looked alarmed for a moment, and then smiled. "I think you must be mixing me up with someone else."

"Sure," Buffy narrowed her eyes at him, and then turned back to Pacey. 

Ethan continued with his speech to Andie. "Also I was using him to try to get to you. I fell in love with you the second I saw you, Andie. You're beautiful. And so smart, and so very very special."

Andie was melting. 

"And," he continued, "I'd really like it if we could go out sometime."

"Sure," she sighed ecstatically. 

***

"The class mortality rate has really gone up," Pacey noted at the end of that day. 

"That's 'cause Capeside's on a hellmouth," Buffy said. 

"Really?" Andie gasped, with Ethan's arm around her waist. 

"No," Buffy shrugged. "I just told Giles and my mom that so they'd let me come here. Not that they really care because they moved in together and have sex all day long. It's sickening. They're so old."

"You guys going to Jen's party next week?" Andie asked Buffy and Pacey.

They nodded. 

"She's really started to reclaim her lost childhood years now that she's going out with Henry," Andie observed. 

"I hear they go to the playground on their dates," Pacey added. 

Andie and Pacey kept up a not-so-witty repertoire concerning Jen and Henry, and Buffy started to feel extremely left out. When the foursome reached the turnoff for the road where her new apartment was, she stomped off in a huff without saying goodbye.

Lying on her couch was a bleach-blond vampire with his typical evil look on his face. "Slayer!" he grinned. 

"Spike, what are you doing here?" she demanded. 

He looked hurt. "Can't an old friend just pop in to say hello?"

"An old friend can. Not you. Now get out," she snapped. 

"Poor Buffy. What happened to our little vampire slayer to make her so upset?"

"It's Pacey," she spat out. 

"Awwww," Spike said, taking her into his arms and hugging her. "Is he cheating on you? Do you want me to go beat him up?"

"OK," Buffy sniffled into Spike's chest. 

Thrilled at her closeness, Spike's face went into vamp mode and he moved to bite her, but Buffy moved away first. "God, Spike, how dumb do you think I am?" she said in disgust, flipping him over onto his back effortlessly. 

"Hey!" he protested from the floor. "I really did want to help!"

"Sure. The only way you can help me is – hey!"

***

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the life and mourn the death of Andrea McPhee…"

"It's just so sad," Buffy sniffed. "That vampire came out of nowhere. I should've been able to stop him. I feel so guilty."

"It's not your fault," Pacey said. "He was just too strong for you."

Buffy nodded sadly. Dear Spike. Thank you, she said silently. He'd since left Capeside for LA, to track down Drusilla. I hope you find as much happiness in love as I do, she said, enjoying the feel of Pacey's arms around her. Now that I've no competition or whiny Andie hanging around the whole time. 

***

"Buffy, I'm breaking up with you," Pacey said two days later.

"What?" she said in shock. 

"You heard him, Buffy," a female vampire with long blond hair said, emerging from the shadows. Pacey went over to her and they kissed. 

Buffy looked at them in disgust. "I can't believe you're dumping me for Harmony Kendall," she sighed. "A superficial bimbo as well as a vampire? Well, I hope you two are very happy together."

They weren't even listening.

***

Jen and Buffy were talking the following evening at Jen's party.

"Hey, Buffy, glad you could make it," Jen said. "Pity about the others, though."

Buffy sighed. "Yeah. I know. It's been pretty tough."

"For all of us," Jen agreed. "I broke up with Henry."

Buffy made a sympathetic face. "Rough."

Jen nodded. "Oh yeah. But I realized – we weren't meant to be together. And you should be with the one you're meant to be with. The one who you love unconditionally. The one who you think about every night before you go to sleep, and every morning when you wake up. The one who you can never get out of your head, and who no one compares to."

Buffy looked as if she was in a trance. 

"Buffy?" Jen waved a hand in front of her eyes. "You still there?"

Buffy nodded. "I've just realized what I have to do. I've got to go to LA. And be with Angel again."

   [1]: mailto:queenclaire@chickmail.com



End file.
